Energy Vault acquires 175 MW Texas battery storage project amid AI data center demand

Energy Vault expands its bet on energy infrastructure for AI: the company has acquired a battery energy storage project with 175 MW capacity in Texas near Dallas. The deal demonstrates that the data center boom is increasingly affecting not only the chip and server market, but also the electricity market.

Why Texas Was Chosen

The new asset is the McMurtre Battery Energy Storage System project with 175 MW capacity and 350 MWh storage. Energy Vault acquired it from developer Belltown Power and plans to transfer it to its Asset Vault platform, through which the company develops, builds, owns, and manages energy assets. This is not a one-off acquisition for portfolio diversification: Energy Vault is looking for sites that can be rapidly advanced to construction and then converted into a long-term source of predictable revenue.

The location was not chosen by chance. McMurtre is located in the ERCOT North zone — one of the most active electricity markets in the US, which includes the Dallas area. Data centers are growing rapidly nearby, which means demand for stable power, grid balancing, and new energy storage systems is increasing. The project already has a grid connection agreement and full site control, which reduces risks. The company expects construction permitting in the fourth quarter of 2026, with commercial launch planned for December 2027.

Project Economics and Timeline

According to Energy Vault's assessment, McMurtre will be able to generate on average $15 million to $20 million in annual revenue over its technical service life. The total cumulative revenue over the entire project lifecycle is estimated in the range of $350 million to $375 million and higher. These are projections, not guarantees, but the figures themselves show why battery energy storage systems are becoming increasingly important assets in regions where energy-intensive computing facilities are being built nearby.

The deal also advances the company's larger plan. At its investor day in 2025, Energy Vault stated that it wants to deploy initially 1,500 MW of battery storage capacity in the US and beyond. For such projects, the Asset Vault already has a commitment to attract $300 million in the form of preferred capital, which, according to the company's calculations, should be sufficient for over $1 billion in capital expenditures across the entire portfolio. McMurtre becomes one of the building blocks of this structure.

• 175 MW capacity and 350 MWh storage
• deployment market — ERCOT North near Dallas
• expected construction start — fourth quarter 2026
• planned commissioning — December 2027
• expected average annual revenue — $15–20 million

Betting on AI Infrastructure

For Energy Vault, this acquisition is important not only because of revenue. The company is building a strategy around three classes of assets: battery storage systems, so-called powered land, and powered shells. In plain language, this refers to sites with already available power and modular infrastructure that can be rapidly prepared for computational workloads. Batteries in this scheme are not a supporting element, but a foundational layer on which the rest of the digital infrastructure is built.

The connection to AI here is direct. In February 2026, Energy Vault already announced a framework partnership with Crusoe Energy Systems to deploy modular computing infrastructure adjacent to its energy assets. The logic is simple: whoever is able to provide a data center not only with land and racks, but also with reliable electricity right at the connection point, gains a stronger position in the new race for power capacity.

Against this backdrop, McMurtre looks not like a separate deal, but like part of a vertically integrated model.

"The speed of capital deployment to accelerate time to power is critical in this market," said

Energy Vault CEO Robert Picconi.

After the acquisition, the total volume of Energy Vault assets that have been purchased, are under construction, or are operating within Asset Vault has grown to 715 MW. McMurtre itself will use the B-VAULT AC Technology Platform 3 — the company's current battery system. Globally, the B-VAULT portfolio already exceeds 3 GWh in deployed or contracted projects in Europe, North America, and Australia. In other words, the company is selling the market not an idea, but an already scalable operational model.

What This Means

The AI market is increasingly running up against not just GPUs and server racks, but fundamental energy infrastructure. The faster data centers are built, the higher the value of projects that can quickly deliver reliable power and smooth out grid load. If the growth rate of computing infrastructure continues, winners will emerge not only among model developers and chip suppliers, but also among owners of battery systems embedded in new energy nodes.